.. and no shot of a healthy Safe Harbor gift a few months down. I got, on top of three months' severance a surprise $2K Safe Harbor gift, only having worked for the company for just over a year. And they were effective references, including the man who sacked me.

Leaving gracefully (and briskly without making a scene) can indeed be helpful, though perhaps not in the Times author's circumstances.

Well, they have to get a court to decide that, now don't they.

Courts decide legal issues. If you give your word that you'll refrain from doing something, and then you do it, then you've broken your word, regardless of legalities.

If I signed the contract, I said I would refrain of disparagement. If I was subsequently critical of the firm and the company thought it rose to disparagement, it becomes a legal issue.